Thursday's Varsity match will be the last game of rugby Nick Koster plays, and the Cambridge University captain is determined to go out on a high.

Koster’s professional career saw him wear the colours of Western Province and Stormers in his native South Africa, and both Bath and Bristol on these shores.

But he couldn’t be happier that his swansong will be playing amateur rugby, having far more love for the part-time game than he did for the professional one.

“I started playing as a six-year-old out in a farming area of South Africa, where we played at 8am on Saturday mornings when it was freezing and your toes would turn blue, but I loved it and enjoyed the sport so much from a young age,” he said.

“When I did get to the professional side of the sport it turned out to be very different to how I expected and very different to the reason I fell in love with the game.

“For me to come back to the amateur setting and finish my career here in a game like this is a really special thing to be able to do.

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“People fall in love with the amateur values of the game, and for me to be able to play two years of amateur rugby again after 10 years as a pro has been surreal.

“Being surrunded by people playing the game for love of it again, I get to finish it off on my terms. It will be my last game, and apart from the odd drunken Sevens tournament, I won’t be playing much rugby after this.

“One more game, and I’ll lead from the front and do everything in my power to make sure I leave that game feeling I have done myself, the university and everyone else justice.”

Koster became aware of the Varsity match as a schoolboy in South Africa and has been a regular viewer ever since, falling in love with the traditions of the fixture, some of which he has taken on as captain.

“You can always see the passion in those games,” he said. “People are drawn by such an intense rivalry, and even though the standard has slipped since the start of professional rugby, it’s always special in the hearts of players.

“There’s an amazing tradition where the captain cycles around town and tells the players face to face if they’re in the team or not.